The Hoverboard Has Arrived. If Only Someone Could Make It Useful

In the past few years, humanity's come tantalizingly close to the future Back to the Future Part II previewed back in 1989. Putting aside the rolling, exploding toys that somehow usurped the name hoverboard, there's Hendo Hoverboard, which is restricted to maneuvering over conductive copper floors. The Lego-like ArcaBoard, which went into production last month, can float about 20 inches above the ground. Too bad it costs $20,000 and offers a range of about a mile.

But Franky Zapata's Flyboard Air hovers, and then some. In April, Zapata used his invention to fly, Green Goblin-like, for a record-breaking 7,388 feet. The French professional jet skier-turned-Master of the Sky has flown his invention up to 55 mph and reached 90 feet in the air. And he says the Flyboard Air can do better than that, promising 100 mph and a oxygen mask-encouraging 10,000 feet.

Okay, so it can only run for 10 minutes at a time, and it's more a clever application of jet technology than anything groundbreaking. But it's the closest anyone's come to delivering on the hoverboard moniker. As CNET put it, "If this crazy hoverboard is real, then the future is now."

The question, then, is what we do with that future. The answer: nothing nearly as practical as cruising around Hill Valley or fleeing a gang of bullies. Yes, this thing is (presumably) a major load of fun. The future of personal transportation it is not.

How It Works

The Flyboard Air's secret sauce is actually pretty straightforward. Four turbojets provide a blustery 1,000 horsepower, enough thrust to keep a rider suspended and zipping along. Those are controlled by complex logic systems, which make constant adjustments between the jets to keep the board stable (quadcopter drones use similar tech). A handheld remote serves as a throttle. The A-1 kerosene that keeps the turboengines moving sits in what we'll call a jet fuel pack, on the rider's back.

And there's Zapata himself, who controls the 44-pound board's direction with his body weight, and spent 50 hours on the thing before he could ride it comfortably. He says it's not unlike riding a bike.

What It's For

Well, if riding a bike required strapping jet fuel to your back, risking broken bones with every spill, and dedicating a good week to learning how to just get down the street. For the casual hoverboard-lover, the Flyboard Air has a few downsides. Though the device can be flown over almost anything, it's best used in people-free zones. Standing less than a meter away from the Flyboard Air for more than a few seconds, Zapata says, will feel like "if you put a dryer too close to your skin." Basically, no way you'd want to ride it over a large crowd of people, lest you find yourself in a Raiders of the Lost Ark-esque face-scorching situation.

The hoverboard also faces some serious serious red tape. As The Daily Beasthas pointed out, riding the Flyboard Air would run (or fly?) afoul of traffic laws in major cities like New York and London. Zapata says he's hoping to start working with regulatory officials in France to get the hoverboard the official rubber stamp there.

Then there's the price. The board took four years and $1.1 million to research and develop. Zapata's company has only built two so far, so he hasn't yet put a tag to the Flyboard Air. Suffice it to say, this will not be how Bernie Sanders zips around the White House.

To catch a glimpse at the device's more immediate future, it's instructive to look at another product from Zapata's company, the Flyboard Sport. Since 2011, this $6,600 proto-jetpack has been the vacation amusement of choice for folks like the Biebs and the Kardashians. The Air might not hover from the tree. As Scott Aughenbaugh, who studies the near future for the DC think-thank the Center for Strategic and International Studies, puts it, the hoverboard may begin as the perfect toy for "a billionaire who already has five helicopters, and wants a cool way to get from A to B." Zapata is definitely embracing the hoverboard's recreational possibilities. He's hoping to organize a Red Bull Air Race-like competition for flyers. "My goal is to ride the clouds," he told The Verge last month.

Zapata says he's also received some interest from the military, though declines to say who has reached out. Maybe it's not too far a stretch. Dubai announced it would arm its high rise-scaling firefighters with legit jetpacks last fall. Back in the 50s, the US army released a janky hoverboard prototype. In 2010, Darpa announced it was funding flying jeep research. In the age of roadside IEDs, urbanizing warfare, and sporadic firefights, suddenly going airborne could be nifty. Or maybe not: "The enemy would hear you coming, what with the noise of the board and the accompanying heavy metal music," says Peter W. Singer, a political scientist who specializes in 21st century warfare.

"A lot a lot" of people want to buy the Flyboard Air, Zapata says. You can see why: Not because it's the future of transportation. Because it's completely awesome.